Life at East: Dorm sweet dorm

Recently, I was able to go through the process of picking my dorm for college. I definitely knew that I wanted to live on the honors floor because I want the extra focus and to meet people with similar academic goals.

The kids who wanted to live on any themed floor got to sign up online before the general student population. The day the website opened, I had to work in the morning, so I didn’t get to pick out my room until the early afternoon. I knew I wasn’t the first one to sign up, but was surprised that – by the time I logged onto the site – there were only a couple quads left.

My school only assigns random roommates; a lot of the kids use Facebook to pick out potential matches and post open slots. Since people aren’t always truthful on social media, I decided it wasn’t worth my time; if someone is willing to go random, they know they have to be at least a little open-minded. I know that everyone seems to say this, but I’m really not that picky when it comes to my idea of “perfect” roommates. As long as they don’t party in our room and stay out of my stuff, I’ll be all good.

Now, I have to wait a few weeks to find out who my three random roommates are. Being in a quad has is benefits – if I don’t become BFFs with one girl, there will be two others to ease the tension. But it also has its drawbacks – like zero privacy and no built-in storage. I can picture move-in day turning into a full-on “Hunger Games” scenario for space, where my stackable milk crates have a pretty good chance of winning.

I realize that with any roommate – random or picked – it’s really just hit or miss. While everyone may have good intentions, tensions can run high when you’re living with someone 24/7. I haven’t shared a room in years, which will require some adjustment on my part, but I also haven’t been living on an island all my life, either.

I also have to admit that I am not into the whole matching-bedspread thing. I’ve already bought a good amount of my stuff, and I am not returning any of it to coordinate with the rest of my dorm. Attempting to find four different complimentary colors will become very close to turning into a rainbow, which I don’t think is worth the trouble. Besides, the T-shirt quilt my mom made me is way too adorable to sacrifice.

In the end, I know that my college experience will be made up of more than my room number and bunk-bed configuration. There will be new friends to meet, exciting classes to be taken and countless adventures to be had!

P.S. Now that Kurt Zepeda’s duties are done, I’ll be writing my column every week through the end of September, when the next high school columnist(s) will soon take over.

• Brigid Ackerman is a recent graduate of St. Charles East High School. She enjoys playing the trumpet, eating bread and writing this column, which now runs every Thursday. Contact her at editorial@kcchronicle.com.